"The disclosures provide new details about a military operation that was a startling departure from using law enforcement means to interdict suspected drug boats. Legal specialists who have called it a crime to summarily kill suspected low-level smugglers as if they were wartime combatants said the revelations further undercut the administration's claim that the strike was legally justified as self-defense."
"Mr. Trump announced the strike last week, saying it took place in international waters and had killed 11 people who he said were transporting drugs heading to the United States and were part of a Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua. He has not put forward evidence to support those assertions but has said we have tapes of them speaking. It appears now that the whole story is falling apart."
A U.S. military operation in the Caribbean destroyed a Venezuelan boat, killing eleven people. Officials initially characterized the strike as targeting drug traffickers allegedly affiliated with the Tren de Aragua gang and said the vessel was transporting drugs toward the United States. Authorities released video and claimed to possess recordings of crew conversations, yet have provided little concrete evidence identifying passengers, contraband, or precise intent. American sources say the boat altered course and apparently turned after spotting a military aircraft before the strike. Legal experts argue that summary killings of suspected low-level smugglers resemble wartime conduct and question the self-defense justification amid shifting official accounts.
Read at www.esquire.com
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